Sunday, January 16, 2011

10 Days in Paris -- A Dad's Point of View

Greetings to all…  I just spent 10 great days with my son Matt here in Paris.

We arrived on January 3rd.  Our arrival was a bit slowed.  We had to wait over an hour for Matt to get his luggage at the airport.  There were no issues, just a classic example of inefficiency.  I got my bag within 15 minutes.  Others would get theirs on 10 minute intervals.  Even after we got ours others from our flight were still waiting.  From there we went through Customs -- I think Matt was surprised how easy clearance was.

We took the 30 minute taxi ride to the apartment and after a short rest we decided to venture out for his orientation walk.  Our first stop was Le Passy for an expresso and croissant.  We explored the neighborhood, showing him the small shops, mall and marketplace.  The area was very quite as it was the Monday after New Year.  For lunch we went to Aero and had a Croquette Mademoiselle (a grilled ham & cheese sandwich with an egg on it).  Excellent start…

To occupy Matt’s time while I was working we agreed that a museum pass would be a great way for him to explore the multiple museums in a cost effective manner.  So on Tuesday Matt spent the day doing his research on the various museums that interested him and laid out a plan for the 4 days.  The following days he would set out and find the museum on his own, sometimes using the Metro other days walking around (and around and around).  He got lost one day for ~2 hours.  The funny thing about that one was the museum is only 5 minutes from here!!! 

The best part of the day for me was coming home and hearing about his adventures, looking at the pictures he took while we had a beer or glass of wine.  Sometimes we did this at the apartment, others we went to Le Passy.  Whenever we went to Passy the staff would give us a hearty “bon soir”, shake our hands and ask how we were doing.  They made Matt feel welcome there. 

I think Matt’s favorite part of the day was lunch.  It seemed everyday he either made a sandwich here with a fresh baguette and things we bought from the market OR he went to the local patisserie and bought a sandwich.  His lunches were part of my daily briefings.

On Saturday we got around early and went to the fresh air market on
Woodrow Wilson Avenue
.  It is a big market with lots of things to see, touch and taste.  Any one who knows Matt knows we bought processed meats, cheese and fresh veggies.  Matt made friends with the butcher who sleeps with his favorite salami.  We came home and had a glorious lunch with the things we purchased.  After lunch we took the Metro to visit the Louvre.  I have never been there so I didn’t know what to expect, other then big.  I found it to be very interesting.  We raced to see the Mona Lisa, just to say we saw it.  And that was it “we saw it” and we weren’t overly impresed.  We were more interested in the works around it from the Italian painters.  They give you a map highlighting the most famous things.  So we tried to hit most of them.  My favorite was “Napoleon’s Coronation” and “Venus”.

We ate at a different restaurant every night Matt was here.  As he stated in his post, the funniest meal was the beef tongue incident.  He took the Metro up to St. Ouen to have lunch together and visit my office.  We went to a little restaurant outside of the Alstom campus.  The food was good, but watching Matt find out he was devouring cow’s tongue was priceless.  I think he had an upset stomach not from the food, but the psychological effect of French kissing a cow.

I think my favorite night was Tuesday.  A friend from work invited us to meet him and some of his friends at an Irish pub in the 1st Ard.  We got there a bit early so we could have something to eat.  I had the Irish stew and Matt had a whiskey soaked chicken dish.  Of course we sampled a couple of new Irish beers.  The people we hung out with were lawyers and business leaders from Ireland & Wales who have lived in Paris for the past 8-15 years.  One of the guys had a Phd in History, so we got into a discussion about history.  The guys were very interested in Matt’s study of Robin Hood in film.  It was fun to watch Matt have an adult conversation with these men and hold their interest (I was a proud papa).

The final night was bitter sweet.  We started with a beer or two at Le Passy, followed by a pizza dinner at La Matta.  If you read Matt’s blog entry he tells the story.  In the end we were all laughing at my sloppy French…

On Thursday we woke up early and went to the airport.  We got there before the United desk was open so we watched with amusement at another example of inefficiency.  It took 2 people about 20 minutes to set up the lines for customers to follow to the service desk.  The one guy must have changed them 10 times.  And then when we were finally able to “use” them, the flow was a mess.  Made me smile, the end was similar to the beginning.

I really enjoyed having Matt here with me and I was really glad he could explore Paris.  I was a bit melancholy when we said our good-byes.  It’s not often you get to have 10 memorable days with one of your kids.  I will always treasure it. 

I look forward to Bryan & Kyrstin’s visit next week.  I’m sure we will create another set of memorable moments.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

10 Days in Paris -- Matt's Post

So there I am sitting in Charles de Gaule airport waiting for my plane back to America and the song "I Feel Home" by OAR comes on my iPod. I think it was this moment when I realized that my first Paris excursion had ended officially (I felt like I was in a scene at the end of a movie when the sappy music starts to play when the adventure is over). And I promised my dad a blog post so I figured now was the best time to sit and reflect on one of the greatest experiences of my life.

To sum up the trip you could call it an adventure. At the outset my dad and I kept talking about my Paris "bucket list." The list contained mostly foods to try. I tried escargot, fois gras, duck, cressants, tarts, cheeses, salami, oh and a few new beers too. As you can tell it was not the healthiest of trip in terms of my eating habits, but hey I only get to go to France two times so I need to make the best of it.  I was even fortune enough to accidentally try one of the most treasured of all French foods.........beef tongue! I had almost half the dish before I realized what I was eating: the taste buds gave it away. It was tasty and very tender but I could not quite get used to the idea of French kissing a cow. If your wondering how said tongue was ordered, as I said it was an adventure. Langue du beouf was the plate of the day and mine and dads French couldn't understand the word tongue.

Other than the food, the wine, the beer and cognac there was a lot of other adventures which I took. I explored 8 museums. I got lost for two hours when the museum was five minutes from the apartment which was very exciting. And I forced myself to talk as much French as I could and I was pleasantly surprised my how much I actually remembered. I had very awkward encounter when I forgot my money when I tried to buy a baguette. Through it all it was still a ton of fun exploring thing in France and I'm very excited for my next trip when I play tour guide for Allison.

The adventures I had with dad were just as exciting and fun. We spent many a night wondering and finding great hole in the wall pubs with cheap beers most were locally brewed. We actually met local Americans in these little places, like a girl from Missouri. We also went to an Irish pub with 4 Irish guys (1 was dads work buddy) and a guy from Wales. All were lawyers except 1 and it was cool talking to them and having them buy me beers. Haha. They even like my Robin Hood thesis idea. 

One of the greatest days was the last night. We went to the famous la matta's pizzeria. Where they know me as ma fille which dad told them trying to say my son in French but ma fille means daughter. So needless to say they found it quite funny. But we had an amazing meal and at the end the guy asked when we were leaving France in French, I whipped up a French response saying dad lived there and I was visiting from USA. This is when he asked me to send them a post card from America. So I have to do that when I get back. But it was such a cool experience to be talking to a French guy in France in French and having both of us understand each other, well for the most part.

Well this was my short story of the time I spent with dad in Paris. I absolutely loved every minute I was there and loved spending time with my dad. I can't wait to go back. 

Au revoir

Friday, January 14, 2011

Our Church -- Post from Jill

Bonjour!!  Although I am not yet back in Paris I have been thinking about my blog for awhile.  I've been wanting to write about "our" church in Paris.  Notre Dame de Passey, is not "the" Notre Dame but a very lovely old church in the neighborhood.  We walk out the door of our apartment at about 10:15 Sunday morning, mass is at 10:30, and join the others making their way to church.  You can almost feel the sense of fellowship even though we are a group of strangers gathering together!
 
Notre Dame is very old with many interesting archetectural elements; large collumns, beautiful paintings on the ceiling and behind the altar, stained glass windows and old, scuffed wooden floors.  You feel a sense of reverence and history in this old church as it fills with people. . .children, parents, grandparents and even a few misfits like us!!  There are no pews or kneelers so upon arriving you stand in front of your seat and say your prayers before sitting, some sit and reflect quietly.  By seat I mean a very small highback chair that is probably considered antique and was made when the average person weighed no more than 100 pounds with a teeny, tiny butt, so we oversized Americans have no wiggle room for fear the legs will collapse...better to sit still and pay close attention I guess!!!
 
The mass begins with at least ten altar servers, all boys aged 7 to 16ish processing down before the readers, eucharistic ministers and priests.  It is quite the sight!  There is much ceremony and burning of incense (sometimes the smoke is so thick it is difficult to see the priest at the altar!)  The mass itself is easy to follow as it is a typical catholic mass, but of course it is all in French!  Mark and I sing the hymns the best we can (never good), sing the Alleluia and say the Our Father in english.  All I can say is we are there, we participate and we absorb, observe and reflect.  It is a good feeling. . .it is not a feeling of returning "home" after a long absence (a feeling I have when returning to St. John's the Evangelist of Spencerport) but a feeling of visiting a very dear friend, one you are comfortable with and can say whatever comes to mind. . .
 
P.S.  It is fun to observe the interactions between children, parents and grandparents~families are the same everywhere I guess!  Little children speaking french are just adorable.  I might be a little jealous of their speaking ability, as I find french very difficult and they make it look so easy!!
 
I guess the equivalent to our usher in church in the U.S. is a man dressed in a tuxedo in France or at least our little neighborhood church.  We are not exactly sure of his role in the whole process, but he is very dashing in dress!!
 
Oh, let's not forget the beggars outside of church every week.  I don't know if I should be sad and upset about their plight or if this is their calling/vocation in life.  There are two of them. . .one woman in a wheelchair and a man, both with little paper cups.  We toss the woman a coin as she is on the side of the church we exit from.  They are there every week in the same spot, getting the same coins from the same people.  It is interesting to observe as we are not used to seeing so many beggars and homeless...a story for another day!!
 
P.S.S.  Mark just called from Paris to wish me a good morning, a good day, an I love you.  He does this every day, a small gesture that means the world to me and makes for a brighter day:)  A bientot!!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Happy New Year!

Well it has been some time since I've written to the Blog.  By way of catch up...

Jill and I returned to the U.S. for ~15 days. We had a wonderful Holiday Season with our family and friends.  I think we had a social event every day/night with the exception of one.  Christmas was peaceful, Bryan turned 25 and we celebrated "the ball drop" with a class of champagne together.  All was right with the world.

On January 2nd I returned to Paris with Matthew.  He is here for 10 days.  We used the Monday we arrived to orient him to the area.  So far he has tried many of France's fine (but different, next time you see him ask about the cow's tongue) foods, seen all the tourist sites and visited 8 museums.  We bought the 4 day museum pass so he would go see 1-3 a day (depending on the size and location) while I was at work.  On Saturday we went to the market, the Musee de Louvre and Notre Dame.  Along the way we have sampled a few beers and some different wines.  So far so good!

This Sunday we had a laid back day.  Church, a cup of coffee at the cafe, a lunch at home and then a walk to Trocadero.  We saw 3 or 4 street performers.  A bike rider, dancers and Indian flute players.  Flat Ryan went with us.

I'm trying to get Matt to write something for you...